In mid-2020, amid a burgeoning pandemic, 19-year-old Llyr George – the younger brother of Love Island star Dr Alex George – died by suicide. What made it even more crushing for Llyr’s family, like countless others, was that there had been no warning sign. Unanswered questions only compounded the grief. “Sadly, men are still much more likely to take their own life than women,” his brother says today – three-quarters of UK suicides in 2020 were by men. “The awful shame is [that many] don’t tell you, so you’re not aware that they’re struggling. We know that men generally use violent forms of suicide, while women have more help-seeking behaviours and will often present to A&E or they’ll talk to their friends.”
Since his brother’s passing in July 2020, the man affectionately known as Dr Alex has used his platform to help ensure other individuals don’t suffer in silence. Appointed Downing Street’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador last year, he’s under no illusions as to the task at hand. “Fundamentally we have a treatment-based model in this country where mental health services are expected to deal with everyone’s struggles. They’re actually designed for only about three per cent of everyone they see – for anorexia, bipolar disorder or other psychotic illnesses. Whereas so much of anxiety and depression – even early body image problems – can be dealt with in the community.”
